Prime Minister Han Seong-sook has called for significant reforms within the South Korean police force, specifically targeting the handling of missing person cases and the agency's overall organizational culture. This directive comes in response to public outrage following revelations that an officer had prematurely closed at least two cases by filing false reports indicating the victims had been confirmed safe. Tragically, both individuals, a woman in her 30s and a man in his 60s, were later found dead months after being reported missing on Jeju Island. The officer involved has been arrested for falsifying reports.
The incidents have raised serious concerns that missing person cases may not be investigated with sufficient diligence, and that similar premature closures could have occurred in other cases, particularly given that the majority of reported missing persons are eventually found safe. In the wake of these revelations, police have initiated a nationwide review of all closed missing person cases from the past three years. Earlier in the week, President Lee Jae Myung also advocated for the creation of a specialized organization to spearhead police reform, especially as the law enforcement agency is set to assume expanded investigative roles following a measure that curtails prosecutors' independent investigative powers.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Prime Minister Han stated that she had convened with the acting national police chief and other senior officials to discuss measures for overhauling the missing person investigation system and, more fundamentally, the internal organizational culture. She described the false closing of the cases as "very shocking" and "hard to accept," emphasizing that "serious problems with the procedures, sequences and the ways they deal with things" need to be rectified. Han also expressed skepticism about the feasibility of internal reforms, suggesting that an external organization would be more effective in carrying out reforms that are perceived as credible by the public.
